I spent four years as Forbes' Girl Friday, which to me meant doing a little bit of everything at once. As a member of the Forbes Entrepreneurs team, I looked at booming business and startup life with a female gaze. I worked on the PowerWomen Wealth and Celebrity 100 lists, keeping my ears pricked and pen poised for current event stories--from political sex scandals to celebrity gossip to international affairs. In 2012 I helped to put two South American women on the cover of FORBES Magazine: Modern Family star Sofia Vergara (the top-earning actress on U.S. television) and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who is transforming the BRIC nation into an entrepreneurial powerhouse. Prior to Forbes I was at the Philadelphia CityPaper, where I learned more than any girl ever needs to know about the city's seedier trades. I studied digital journalism at The University of The Arts.
I left Forbes in November, 2013, to pursue other interests on the West Coast.

The 100 Best Websites For Women, 2013

We couldn’t be happier to present the fourth annual list of FORBES 100 Best Websites for Women than we are today—for this year more than any other this has been true collaborative effort by dedicated staffers, contributors and ForbesWoman readers. For that reason it just might be—dare we say it—the best list ever.

As is always the method to our madness, this list is the culmination of a year’s worth of Internetting, asking around and getting lost down the rabbit hole of the best (and sometimes weirdest) of the Web. There are no more dedicated readers than you’ll find in the ForbesWoman community: from the ongoing conversations in our Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook groups to the brilliant contributors and commenters on our site, you inspire us, enlighten us and not-so-gently nudge us to look past our own personal tastes, politics or preferences.

And we’re better for it.

So what do we look for in a website? Informative and compelling content, sure, but also smart design, engaged communities and a voice that speaks to and for the female reader. We’re looking for the inspiration to start businesses, get stress in check, climb the corporate ladder or maybe just Lean In. Of course, there are extra fun points for the escapist sites we rely on to help us pass the dreaded three oh clock hour. But no matter how brilliant the recipes, your average cooking site won’t cut it; we’re looking for the intangible ‘something extra.’ These sites need to make us smile, make us think but most importantly make us share—sometimes via social, sometimes in email but we believe the true mark of great content is the kind that makes you step away from your desk and talk about it.

What we’re not looking for is pandering—we’re looking at you Bryan Goldberg. Bustle’s long-term success is still up for debate; we’ll reconvene on that one in 2014. We’re not looking for the old standbys either. We know you know the NYTimes homepage is a great place for World News, just as we know you know Forbes.com is the place to go for business. Instead, these 100 websites look to educate, inform and entertain you in ways you won’t find in the mainstream.

Of course there are the standards: 85 Broads, the Forte Foundation and Catalyst have become old friends of the women of Forbes for their great research and unique insights—they will forever be bookmarked on the computers of 60 Fifth Avenue. To that posse we’ve added a new resource this year that has become not just a repository of great content but of unbelievable inspiration: MAKERS. Backed by AOL, the MAKERS site just published the 200th of a series of in depth interviews with the most incredible women in America. From Meg Whitman to Carol Burnett, Hillary Clinton to Miranda July, the MAKERS video are a sure pick-me up for those days when it feels particularly tough to be a woman. (Don’t even tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about.)

But regular readers will also notice a considerable number of fresh sites—32 to be exact. It’s no surprise, really. When Kate Taylor posted a call for candidates just two weeks ago, she received more than 2,000 suggestions from commenters, contributors and staffers. Some FW commenters were so enthusiastic they kept nominating as recently as this morning.

One thing you won’t find this year: health content. While we appreciate the importance of women finding authoritative information about their bodies, we’ll be completely honest: we don’t believe we’re the place to make those calls for you. Your bodies are your bodies in 2013, and we’re not messing with them. Lest you think healthcare isn’t a critical issue at FORBES, take a look at the great work Matthew Herper and Alice Walton on the site.

But back to business. We’re thrilled to share this work with you and we can’t wait to hear your thoughts. Are we missing something major that’s important to your life? Give us your picks in the comments!

85 Broads: A members-only international network of 20,000 inspired, empowered and connected women started by female staffers at Goldman Sachs. Nice offering of blogs from members on work-life issues.

NEW20 Nothings: With Jessie Rosen hitting the three decade mark, her blog is making the transition from 20-Nothings to 30-Nothings. Since 2007, Rosen has built six years of anecdotes, advice and musings on everything from dating to body image.

Babble: A community for new parents with advice, recipes, news and resources, plus a witty blog called Strollerderby.

BlogHer: The premier women’s blog platform is celebrating its seventh anniversary this year–and it’s still going and growing.

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Great list, would be great to be on your next great list. All our content is original, exclusive for female entrepreneurs, and we get lost of praise.We have informative and compelling content, sure, but also smart design, engaged communities and a voice that speaks to and for the female reader. http://www.thenextwomen.com

I quit working at shoprite to work online and with a little effort I easily bring in around $45 to 85 per/h. Without a doubt, this is the easiest and most financially rewarding job I’ve ever had. I actually started 6 months ago and this has totally changed my life. Here’s what I do going1com_

I am recommending www.womenandwork.de and www.womenandwork.at. The two represent the biggest congress and recruitment events for qualified women in Germany and Austria. They are not only event-pages but are a source of information and connections and are highly “political” in a sense that they push the cause of women in the workplace further to the next level.

To say we are honored is an understatement. Wow. Thank you for including the work of the women at World Moms Blog again this year. You have no idea how much this means to us and motivates us to keep doing what we’re doing! Our contributors are shouting out the good news around the world!

And congratulations to all who made this list, especially our friends at BlogHer, the NY Times Motherlode, Moms Rising and more! We proudly share the honor with these and all of the amazing sites listed!

I am 25. I am college educated. I have a job. A job that takes 80 hours a week, manages multi-million dollar campaigns, and liaises with Fortune 500 Companies.

I also have a cat, blond hair, and happen to be a woman.

Of that list of attributes, the only two anecdotes that carry any value according to this article are the following:

1) Blond 2) Woman

If only I were also a mom, then I’d carry the accomplished woman trifecta.

I am not a business woman. I am not a working woman. I am someone who works in business.

Why aren’t sites like CNN, Huffington Post, BBC, AV Club, or Funny or Die listed? I’ve never heard of your list before, but I follow those every day. Instead, it’s full of sites that show you how to rock your CEO look, and discretely pop birth control in a meeting. How to like football as a woman, how to cook as a woman, how to launch new businesses as a woman.

And, as a woman, I am insulted.

This article, by its very intent, is both degrading and detrimental to feminism, as a cause and all it hopes to accomplish. By attributing a gender label as a caveat to every title, a caveat that need not be applied to men in those same positions, you are single-handedly cementing over the glass ceiling that everyone thinks we shattered. You are saying that I am not a person. I am a woman. I am less than.

And yes, I am a woman. And proud to be. Please don’t change that.

Thank you for creating a Forbes For Her section. I feel heard and represented. Someone please pass the birth control.

I get where you’re coming from, Kate, but I disagree that the world is at a place where gendered issues (or content sites) aren’t relevant. Let’s regroup when we’re all earning equally. Your site picks–absolutely awesome, great reads for everyone regardless of gender–but don’t need to be surfaced on a list like this one.